March, 2008

Our neighbor here are Blogspot, Rod Adams of Atomic Insights - tops on our blog roll - is currently debating nuclear energy as a viable solution for climate change with Matt, a sustainability consultant who writes regularly for TalkClimateChange . The conversation is happening over at Green Options and...

That of course would be Walt Disney World, but in neighboring Levy county, the next most happiest, Progress Energy is set to build a new nuclear power plant. The response by Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas is exceptionally upbeat : Locally, the only major controversy comes from neighboring Citrus...

Check out this awesome video of a song titled "50 Ways to Save a Millirem" by the band Rem Men. Thanks to Blue Crab Boulevard for the pointer. ...read more

More on the deal between Egypt and Russia , with Russia supplying Egypt with technology to build a commercial nuclear power plant. Nuclear power has become intensely interesting to the Arab nations. The logic behind oil-rich nations finding nuclear appealing is simple: Arab nations cite their need for...

Check out the detailed piece from CNNMoney on how Kazakhstan's uranium industry has taken off . ...read more

AREVA has been notably good with their outreach ads. Here's an animated piece extolling the virtues of nuclear energy through the medium of two yakky fuel pellets. Perhaps a little static in the manner of much Flash animation, but a very nicely produced piece that hits its points without fuss. AREVA...

The video below on blogging is something you may enjoy apart from our usual nuclear energy discussions. A museum dedicated to the news, the Newseum , is set to open April 11 in Washington DC. The video discusses the section in the Newseum created specifically about blogging and how bloggers (you) have...

Well, what's new? I didn't catch this until yesterday, but shortly after Entergy announced an independent safety evaluation will be done for Indian Point, Riverkeeper was quick to dismiss the study . Here's Riverkeeper: An independent safety assessment is not an assessment contracted and...

Russia is proving to be quite the power station broker, now adding Egypt to its portfolio of customers, following Iran, China and India. Egypt wants up to four nuclear power stations and an international tender to build the first of them may come as early as this year. Tuesday’s agreement clears...

NRG Energy Inc. has partnered with Toshiba Corp. to create a new company to pursue new nuclear energy projects. Nuclear Innovation North America LLC will focus on “marketing, siting, developing, financing and investing in advanced design nuclear projects” in the United States and Canada, NRG Energy said...

Here's a summary of U.S. nuclear plant performances last month: For February 2008, the average net capacity factor was 93.2 percent. This figure is 3.5 percentage points lower than February 2007. Monthly nuclear generation was 65.1 billion kilowatt-hours in February 2008, slightly lower than the...

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Electricity peak prices all decreased between $0.30-4.40/MWh. Though peak prices declined, prices at all hubs except ERCOT are still higher than their previous 52 week averages (see pages 1 and 3). Estimated nuclear plant availability...

One of the odder bits of news involves "Europe's last dictator," Alexander Lukashenko of Balarus, pacting with Iran to build a nuclear power plant - odd, because it seems unlikely to occur. David Marples, a Belarus expert at the University of Alberta, doubts that Iran could afford to finance...

Stephen Dubner at the New York Times' Freakonomics blog explained some of the reasons for the high uranium spot prices seen over the past several years . Between 2004 and 2007, the spot price of uranium more than quadrupled, reaching more than $140 before falling off sharply in the past several months...

Also from the Guardian : Senior German energy executives warned yesterday that Europe's biggest economy faces growing blackouts unless it follows the Franco-British lead in promoting new nuclear power stations. They seized on a weekend report in the Guardian that Gordon Brown and French president...

From the Guardian : Britain and France are to sign a deal to construct a new generation of nuclear power stations and export the technology around the world in an effort to combat climate change. The pact is to be announced at the "Arsenal summit" next week when prime ministers Gordon Brown...

Dan Yurman shares some thoughts on New York's Indian Point nuclear plant. Be sure to visit : New York is the first state to formally oppose relicensing of a nuclear power plant At a time when the rest of the world is experiencing what is called a " nuclear renaissance ," the situation in...

Check it out . ...read more

NEI recently updated its fact sheet on water consumption at nuclear plants . Below are some highlights ( the picture to the right is the cooling tower at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in North Carolina) : Electric power generation is among the smallest users of water, accounting for about 3 percent...

The National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) board of directors has endorsed nuclear energy as part of a policy revision, the first completed by the association in decades. In supporting the continued use and development of nuclear energy in the United States, the NAM favors construction and operation...

The value of carbon capture and clean coal as an alternative to nuclear energy proved to be a winning argument for the Dutch, but the Guardian takes a far dimmer view of its use in Britain. The government says that the [carbon capture] demonstration project will take "at least 15 years" to...

Several weeks ago Joshua Pearce at Clarion University in Pennsylvania released a study titled “ Thermodynamic limitations to nuclear energy deployment as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology .” In the study he stated... nuclear energy production would have to increase by 10.5% per year from 2010 to...

The Guardian reports that the Dutch government is scaling back their nuclear activities in favor of coal with carbon capture. The writer, Reuters Carolyn Hornby, is less than impressed: [Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer] said that coal, the most widely-used but also one of the most polluting energy...

Here are some of the details : In an effort to provide public assurances about the operation and protection of New York's largest nuclear power facility, Entergy Nuclear today announced the start of a fully independent examination of safety, security and emergency preparedness at its Indian Point...

The Miami Herald reported on the Florida Public Service Commission's decision to approve two additional reactors at Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point site. FPL already operates two reactors at Turkey Point in south Florida. "Trends indicate there will be a substantial need for more...